explain to me again why we have police electrocuting college students?

video of the events in question are embedded at the bottom of this blog. it is probably best to view the video before reading.

Before i even discuss the practical details of this, why exactly is it that we have campus law enforcement electrocuting students in states as far-reaching as California and Florida. If it happens more than once, the problem is not the students. Even if the students WERE combatant, if we have a society which drives our student population to constant violence warranting usage of electric shock to control them, what does that say about the laws they don't agree with.

now that being said, let it be known that the two most recent victims of police electro-brutality that were caught on videocamera were outnumbered, unarmed, and made no threats or motions characterizable as violent or threatening, yet were still administered torturous electric shock to coerce "compliance", one of which happened last night without a clear explanation of whether he was being arrested, detained, or really any explanation at all. If you have just asked a moderator at a town hall function a question, even if your question is undesirable, and the moderator has aknowledged your question and you are seized anyways, without explanation, it is clearly outside the scope of police authority. Public universities such as this are instutions of taxpayer money, not private property, and all the benefit of the doubt goes to the taxpayer here. the police are responsible for explaining what their purpose is in physically confronting you. I'm inferring here to Andrew Myer's vicious electrocution yesterday at a John Kerry rally in gainesville at University of Florida. This mirrors similar policy errors in UCLA earlier this year, an atrocity committed against Iranian Mostafa Tabatabainejad who failed to produce an ID card in protest to what he felt was racial profiling.

With UCLA being a public university, the fact that students are required to show at all times an ID card goes against the very foundation of what makes America safe from Tyrrany. it is reasonable to ask someone for proof of admission to the University, if they are entering a premises, and to be denied admittance without the ID card, but for police to walk around the building demanding certain politically unsavory characters(in this case chosen by racial affiliation) produce identification even when they are leaving the building is criminal. He protested this so that other students could see what the campus rule was being used to do (honestly, do they really think a senior year American student of Iranian heritage is going to commit a terror attack after 11pm in a library that probably has 45 people in it? that is not a credible assessment of risk, so please realize that before you say that you feel safer for something like that happening.)

The line of brutality is clearly crossed in both cases, as the students are held down by numbers superior to them, who are supposed to be trained law enforcement, who deal with truly violent criminals(or should at least know how to). anyone watching the videos can see with their own eye that the people do not pose a serious threat of physical harm to anyone, especially not numerous trained, armed police officers. while being held down they are electrocuted, basically as a labor saving device to make it easier to get them to put on handcuffs. maybe these handcuffs would go on a little better after they were offered some miranda rights?

regardless of what you feel about the political implications of this, if you honestly feel that someone should administer electric shock to enforce school policies in college, I don't want to share a country with you. Personally, Andrew Meyers attitude when delivering his message at the event was not effective communication in the townhall forum; however his circumstance shows how the standard operating procedure for these police is out of step with the founding fathers vision of america, and closer to that of something out of 1984. we do not allow policy of law enforcement, especially low rank, bored, university law enforcement, to undermine our constitution. Regardless of what you feel about him, obviously the law should protect the ability to speak your mind, live free, far more than it protects law enforcements ability to electrocute-first-and-explain-why-your-detaining-later. Obviously they felt keeping social order at the Kerry event, was more imortant than protecting human rights. Another true criminal in this, is Kerry, only due to his failure as a public figure. If you enter into politics, you have a responsibility to maintain social order. As this event slipped out of hand, and the police went outside of the format (notice Kerry was recognizing his questions and right to speak, and was moderating, meaning that he clearly had the floor according to the order of the event), Kerry has a responsibility, due to his promise to help the social order and defend his constituents, to prove his ability as a public figure by restoring social order and demanding that the police not brutalize his image by torturing people who visit his rallies and ask him political questions.

videos below: please be warned these are graphic and disturbing. also NOTE, neither person is under arrest, nor is the nature of his detention explained by police prior to their usage of a taser gun.